Chris Selley: U.K. soccer star’s racism trial won’t settle anything

Chris Selley: John Terry's racism trial won’t settle anything

On Monday in London, two English soccer stars took their seats in Westminster magistrates court. In the dock was John Terry, stalwart defender for Chelsea and for England; on the witness stand was Anton Ferdinand, defender for Queen’s Park Rangers. At issue is the context in which Mr. Terry used the expression “f–king black c–t” during an on-pitch contretemps with Mr. Ferdinand in October: Mr. Ferdinand believes it was a straight-up insult. Mr. Terry claims, somewhat bizarrely, that he was asking Mr. Ferdinand whether he thought he had been called “f–king black c–t.”

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Mr. Terry faces a fine of £2,500. But much more lies in the balance, or so goes a theory. “If guilty, Terry would not just expect to lose the captaincy of his club and country, he would remain tainted as a private individual,” Martin Samuel wrote in the Daily Mail. “Nobody forgets, not really. The moment he retired from professional football, Terry’s life as a public figure of any distinction would be as good as over.”

That’s a fair indication of just how seriously the soccer world takes racism these days.

But to some, Mr. Terry’s trial represents a highly questionable use of a justice system’s time and resources — a cautionary tale for other jurisdictions grappling with how and whether to police speech. Monday’s proceedings will not change those people’s minds.

Does anyone in here except me realize that John Terry makes £2,500 every two-and-a-half sodding hours?

First of all, there is the quality of the evidence. There is a brief video recording of the incident, but no audio (though there was an unofficial contest to see which media outlet could zoom in closest on Mr. Terry’s lips, tongue and teeth). Thus the court heard testimony from a lip-reader. She “concurred that bad language had been employed,” the BBC reported.

Then there is the context of the alleged insult, which was a heated bout of what all agree is standard “industrial language.”

“He called me a c–t, and I called him a c–t back,” Mr. Ferdinand recalled. “And he gave me a gesture as if to say my breath smelled.

“I said to him: ‘How can you call me a c–t? You shagged your teammate’s missus, you’re a c–t.’”

(Persistent rumours, furiously denied by all involved, had Mr. Terry cheating on his wife with a former girlfriend of sometime England defender Wayne Bridge.)

There is something unsettling about dragging famous people who say horrible things, or people who manage to make themselves famous by saying horrible things — Twitter and alcohol are good for that — through the courts, even as a million other N-words go unpunished. Perhaps it’s worth it to set an example. But what sort of example does a £2,500 fine really set? Does it matter or not?

Mr. Terry’s most significant judgment will not come from Judge Riddle at all. If he’s acquitted, there will still be people — including Mr. Ferdinand, presumably — who believe he was guilty. If he’s convicted — unless some vastly more compelling evidence emerges this week — there will still be people who believe he was hard done by. In either case he will wind up back in the locker room, where he will have to explain himself to his teammates’ satisfaction.

Hypothetically, let’s say that Mr. Terry did call Mr. Ferdinand a “f–king black c–t,” in anger. Let’s say that he profoundly regrets it, and would just as soon admit what he did — call up Mr. Ferdinand, apologize, maybe talk publicly about what was going through his head and how he intends to insure it will never happen again. The fact is, Britain has created a situation in which he is massively dissuaded from doing so — to the detriment, surely, of a more thoughtful and profound discussion about racism. Scarlet letters are rarely good policy.

In the wake of a Grammy Awards ceremony that disappointed many, from Kanye West to the masses on Twitter lamenting the state of pop music, a historical perspective is key. Few are better poised to offer one than Andy Kim.